Singapore’s food resilience not about guaranteeing every food product remains available: Grace Fu

Ang Qing
The Straits Times
Sept 9, 2026

During a crisis, food resilience is not about guaranteeing that every preferred food product remains available in every form – fresh, chilled or air-flown – with low prices, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu told Parliament on Sept 9.

Instead, her ministry’s objective is to ensure that Singaporeans can, even during disruptions, continue to have reliable access to essential food types – carbohydrates, proteins and fibre – while taking into account different dietary preferences.

The minister was responding to a private member’s motion on food resilience raised by four PAP MPs.

They had urged the Government to enhance food resilience and reduce food waste to ensure that Singaporeans will have access to affordable food despite geopolitical uncertainties and climate risks.

Fu noted that while Singapore has managed to keep shelves stocked throughout the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it is not totally out of the woods yet, as the effects of the geopolitical tensions continue to ripple through global supply chains and fertiliser supply remains tight. This is exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon bringing hotter and drier weather.

“Two shocks – one geopolitical, one climatic – compounding each other, threatening the supply of rice, the world’s most consumed staple,” she said.

Singapore adopts a number of measures to safeguard its food security.

These include diversifying imports from a range of sources, stockpiling food items like rice and frozen meat, locally producing certain food types such as vegetables and seafood, and securing international partnerships to ensure food supplies can flow even during a crisis.

During the debate, nominated MP Kenneth Goh asked if diversifying imports was a sufficient safeguard of Singapore’s food security, as suppliers in different countries could still be impacted by the same event, such as an El Nino, for instance. He was one of 12 MPs who took part in the debate.

Fu said the strength of this framework lies in the different combinations that the country can deploy, depending on the food, the disruption and how long it lasts.

For example, Singapore cannot grow rice locally, so it relies on the three other ways, Fu said.

Singapore has an extensive network of over 20 sources, including Thailand, Vietnam, India, Japan and the US, so the country has sources to import from even if supply from one country is disrupted.

Rice cooperation agreements signed with countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia can help increase supply in times of need, she added. For prolonged disruptions, industry and government stockpiles provide an additional buffer.

She said: “We want food to be available across a range of commodities from many different countries.

“We want food supply to be assured, even when disruptions occur.

“And we want food to remain affordable to all Singaporeans, not just those who can afford to pay a premium.”

“We want all three, but there are trade-offs. We cannot maximise all three at the same time,” Fu added.

For instance, importing food from farther away may incur higher logistics costs, but it gives the country options in times of needs, she noted. Similarly, local farms can provide an assured food supply during supply chain disruptions, but prices may be higher due to the higher land and manpower costs.

Fu said: “That balance is a shared responsibility – for Government, businesses and people – in accepting trade-offs and developing solutions today for the risks of tomorrow.”

The local farming sector has been beset with challenges in recent years, with rising costs leading to multiple farm closures.

During the sitting, Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) and Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar GRC) asked whether the Government would consider funding farms’ operating expenses and infrastructure needs to ensure they remain viable.

Dive in

Poh Li San (Sembawang West) also noted that just as Singapore spends billions of dollars to build up its military defence capabilities, the government can also raise the national budget for local food production as part of its total defence strategy. This could go toward helping local farmers mitigate the high land, manpower and utilities costs of local production.

Fu said in response that Singapore’s approach is to help farms build the capabilities and scale needed to become commercially sustainable, rather than permanently offset higher operating costs, while improving inputs that local farms rely on.

For example, local farms can tap the existing Agri-food Cluster Transformation Fund (ACT), which helps local farms upgrade, to offset the cost of energy efficient infrastructure.

Giving updated figures on the projects that have benefited from the ACT, which was launched in 2021, Fu said SFA has awarded nearly $60 million to over 160 projects.

This has supported farms ranging from open cage to closed containment fish farms, as well as both traditional soil-based and urban indoor vegetable farms.

Fu added that the government has set aside more than $240 million to support local production since 2019, when the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) was formed. This includes funding for the Singapore Food R&D Programme.

She noted that overall productivity has improved since then, citing how productivity per hectare per year rose by 20 per cent for vegetable farms, 46 per cent for seafood farms, and 40 per cent for egg farms.

Responding to concerns that Singapore’s approach places too much emphasis on technology, Fu said the Government supports any technology – traditional or otherwise – that can raise production, lower environmental impact, and improve resilience against climate change and disease outbreaks.

She said: “Supporting traditional farmers does not mean preserving traditional methods unchanged. Our approach is to help farms – whatever their starting point – adopt solutions suited to them, produce more with less, withstand shocks better and build viable businesses.”

She pointed out that the government’s support goes beyond technology adoption, such as by giving veterinary support.

Since the launch of the SFA’s Aquatic Animal Health Services in 2023, the subsidised service has been activated more than 70 times and helped more than 20 farms address animal health issues early and minimise losses.

During the sitting, MPs also gave suggestions on how the authorities can grow demand for local produce.

For example, WP’s Dennis Tan (Hougang) and Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) proposed that the government guarantee offtake for farmers by requiring large buyers like the Singapore Armed Forces’ cookhouses and public hospitals to source a minimum share of produce from local farms.

Similarly, PAP’s Cai Yinzhou (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) asked if the Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF), a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the interests of farmers, can broker long-term contracts that give farmers reliable buyers they can count on before stocking their ponds with fish.

In response, Fu said: “We could shield the farmers from competition by limiting imports or mandating procurement, as several members have suggested. But this would reduce choice and competition, and push up food prices.

“Instead, we help local farms become more productive and competitive, while strengthening offtake channels and buying local.”

For instance, SFA is supporting the SAFEF in its effort to aggregate supply from farms and match it with demand, such as by developing new demand channels for institutional buyers and caterers serving large organisations.

Fu said: “This is not about simply increasing the number of farms, subsidising operating costs indefinitely or guaranteeing demand.

“It is about helping farms make structural changes, reap economies of scale and become more viable, so that local production can contribute meaningfully to food resilience for the long term.”

Acknowledging concerns raised by MPs about rising food prices, Fu said the government cannot fully insulate Singapore from the upward pressure on food prices over the long term, but it can better manage the impact of disruptions on the country’s food supply.

She said: “The Government will continue to do our part.

“We will build relationships with partners around the world, invest in local capabilities, open up new sources with new countries, strengthen safeguards, and put in place the policies and infrastructure for our food system to thrive.”

Have something to say? Join in!

Show all comments